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It’s all love and hugs and kisses in Hanover this evening, as Spain face France. Forget about the fact that the French will be desperate to progress to dispel the idea that they’ve been pants ever since 1998. Forget about the fact that Spain are desperate to prove that starting impressively doesn’t automatically lead to bottling it something rotten in the knockout rounds. No, this is fun because it’s the first time that Thierry Henry has come up against his bestest buddy in the world, Spanish coach Luis Aragones.

Aragones infamously tried to ‘motivate’ Henry’s Arsenal teammate Jose Antonio Reyes in 2004 by saying to him: ‘Tell that negro de mierda that you are much better than him. Don’t hold back, tell him. Tell him from me. You have to believe in yourself, you’re better than that negro de mierda.’ We’ll let you translate ‘negro de mierda’ yourself.

Aragones was fined the princely sum of â¬3,000 by the Spanish FA, demonstrating once again the footballing authorities determination to stamp out racism right across the game. Anyway, France v Spain is almost certain to be more interesting than Switzerland v Ukraine was, and it’s on ITV1 at 8pm tonight. The commentary team will be Ron Atkinson and Alf Garnett.

Before that, it’s Brazil v Ghana â a team of flair, passion and infectious enthusiam for the game, from a country where the support is passionate bordering on the fanatical, who’ve lit up this tournament with their deft passing and flamboyant attacks. And they’re playing Brazil. Bah-dum tsshhh!

Before their second-half collapse, Japan showed that Brazil can wobble against a sprightly, fast-paced attack. No, Ghana probably won’t win. But then, nobody thought the Australians would beat Italy, and look at howâ¦ What’s that you say? Oh. Right.

It’s ITV1 at 4pm for Brazil and Ghana, where your commentary team will be Nicholas Lyndhurst and Willie Thorne.